Incline dumbbell flye: Need a life? Try this isolation movement for the upper chest - Perfect Form

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Feb-March, 2002 by Michael Yessis

technique

* Adjust the incline bench so that it's angled between 30-45 degrees.

* Lie faceup on the bench with your feet flat on the floor about shoulder-width or slightly more apart and your knees flexed about 90 degrees.

* Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip (your palms facing inward) and your arms extended above your chest. Bend your elbows slightly.

* Inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as your lower the weights in a wide arc out to your sides. The key is to maintain the slight bend in your elbow throughout the movement.

* Lower the weights until your upper arms approach shoulder level or slightly below and you feel a strong stretch in your chest, then reverse direction slowly and smoothly. Don't stop in the bottom position.

* Keep holding your breath as you pull your arms back up to the vertical position, again following a wide arc. Exhale as you pass the most difficult point on the way up or as your reach the top. Pause momentarily with your arms extended above you while keeping your pecs contracted, then slowly reverse direction.

* Be sure your arms remain in line with your shoulders throughout the movement.

performance

* This exercise doesn't require using very heavy weight for effective development of the muscles since it relies more on leverage. Keeping your arms relatively straight as you lower them out to your sides provides greater resistance than trying to use heavy weights, which compromises your form, forcing you to bend your elbows more to compensate.

* Don't exceed the normal range of motion in your shoulder joints. If your arms go too far below the level of your shoulders, you may place excessive stress on the joints and affected muscles. This is a common cause of stretch marks at the shoulder-chest junction and tearing of the muscle fibers or tendons.

* Be especially careful if you do this exercise on a pec-deck machine. Because of the extreme rear positioning of the arm pads on many machines, excessive stress can be placed on the shoulders when starting the exercise. When you use dumbbells, you can more safely control the movement.

* Breathing is very important for controlling the movement. especially when changing directions from down to up. Inhale and hold your breath as you lower the weight and make the transition back upward. Exhale forcefully as you pass the most difficult point in the range of motion to relieve built-up internal pressure.

* For an even stronger contraction of the pectoral muscles and to fully involve the serratus anterior, raise your arms as high and as close together as possible above your chest in the finish position.

* To ensure stability, keep your feet in contact with the floor at all times. You should exert some pressure against the floor through your feet.

* Be sure your arms stay in line with your shoulders and in a vertical plane (straight up in the air). Lowering your arms below mid-chest or angled toward your head can excessively stress your shoulders.

* Keep the angle of the bench below about 45 degrees to the horizontal. A higher angle changes the exercise to more of a lateral raise; going much lower is closer to a flat-bench dumbbell flye.

primary muscles involved

In the shoulder joint, the anterior deltoid, coracobrachialis and upper pectoralis major muscles play major roles in the incline dumbbell flye. The deltoid is a three-part muscle that covers the entire shoulder; this exercise primarily involves the anterior (front) deltoid and the anterior portion of the middle deltoid. The coracobrachialis is a small muscle located deep underneath the deltoid and pectoralis major muscles on the front and inner side of the arm. The large muscle covering most of the chest, the pectoralis major runs from the anterior border of the clavicle the whole length of the sternum and the cartilages of the first six ribs to attach on the humerus very close to the insertion of the deltoid.

In the shoulder girdle, the serratus anterior and pectoralis minor muscles contract to abduct the scapula on the up phase. Lying on the outer surface of the ribs just below the armpits, the serratus anterior is covered by the scapula at the rear and pectoralis major in front. The small pectoralis minor on the upper chest is covered by the pectoralis major.

sports uses

In resistance training, the incline dumbbell flye is very important for full development of the upper chest and anterior shoulder. This is also an excellent exercise for developing the serratus anterior in the area under the armpits. In powerlifting, this movement can be valuable for improvement in the bench press.

The combination of shoulder-joint diagonal adduction and scapula abduction is crucial in all forward- and upward-reaching and grabbing actions, such as in boxing and the martial arts in execution of various punches. These actions also play an important role in throwing and hitting as in executing forehands in tennis and racquetball, when throwing a baseball and softball, and in the discus, shot put and javelin throw during the release phase. In gymnastics, the movement is especially important on the rings, high bar and uneven bars.